Labor, Delivery and Beyond...

So I finally have some time for an in depth update...Finley is sleeping in her awesome new infant soothing center that Brad and I got yesterday.

Last Tuesday 1-20-09 I was scheduled for an induction. I was 41 weeks and 2 days. Brad and I got to the hospital at 6 am and they hooked me up to the monitors, started my IV, etc. Cynthia, the midwife, came in around 7:30 am said they were not going to use the Cytotec (which thins my cervix) because Finley wasn't having the activity they would like to see. Not that anything was wrong but they didn't want to start something that couldn't be undone. Around 8 they started the pitocin. Even though I had contractions all night the night before, I wasn't having any. They continued to increase the levels of pitocin and finally around 11:30 I started having some minor contractions. Which each passing hour they became more and more intense. Cynthia came back in to check me at 1:45 and I was still only 2 cm dialated. She said there had been some progress made and she would check back in with me. Around 2:30 the contractions were coming about every 2 minutes and were very strong. My nurse showed me a breathing technique that helped but I was getting very uncomfortable. Cynthia said once I got to a 4 they would give me some pain meds through IV if I wanted them. The entire day Finley continued to have decel's in her activity. It was showing that she wasn't getting what she needed from the placenta because they were coming after my contractions instead of during. At around 3:45 the nurse checked me again and I was still only a 2. She took the strip and left and about 1o minutes later Cynthia came in and said Dr. Kadum wanted her to break my water. She checked me too and said there was no way she was going to because I was not where I needed to be. She said she needed to talk to Dr. Kadum and would be back. At this point I was hurting really bad, frustrated and thinking if this wasn't labor I would never be able to handle it. I went to the bathroom and got upset and Cynthia came back in and sat me and Brad down and told us that based on the decreased activity level of Finley and the fact that I was not progressing, Dr. Kadum felt it was best to do a C-Section while me and baby were stable instead of waiting for it to become an emergency situation. We agreed and she said that I would go back around 5. A little after 5 they wheeled me to the OR and got me ready. Brad came in and the anesthesiologist told me they were starting. I felt like I was going to be sick a few times but thankfully I managed to not be. I felt them yanking on my insides but no pain and we heard the nurses and doctors say "oh this is a big baby" and a few minutes later at 5:40 pm, Finley made her grand entrance. It was the coolest thing to hear her first cries. Dr. Kadum leaned over the sheet and said "she could have stayed 45 weeks and was still not coming out". She was wedged from where she wasn't able to turn and the cord was around her neck. All I could see was her being taking over to be cleaned and Brad standing there...I remember saying "OMG she has dark hair...and a lot of it". She weighed 9 lbs 7 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. She scored a 9/9 on her Apgar. Brad took her with the nurses to our room for the family to see and I went to recovery. Mama, Amy, Daddy, Vonda, Connor, Brad's parents and our neighbor Chris were all there. Everyone left so we could have some bonding time and just like that...we were parents!

I had some problems the first night in the hospital. I was beginning to hemorrhage and they had to give me a shot to try and stop it. Our nurse let us know the next day that if that hadn't of slowed it down they were looking at a blood transfusion (scary!) They gave me some pain medicine which totally made me out of my head and I was getting scared because I was forgetting to breath on it. Brad was awesome! He changed 5 diapers and learned to swaddle...because I couldn't get out of bed, he had to do everything for Finley all while worrying about me too. The next day they got me out of bed to move around and I got a shower which felt great. Everyone came back to the hospital to visit and Brandi got there about 1:30. I felt sore and exhausted the whole day and just kinda out of it from everything that had happened the night before. Finley did great that night. Our nurse Lisa was awesome! She took such good care of us and spent a lot of time answering our questions and making us feel comfortable.

Thursday morning when Dr. Kadum came in he asked if I wanted to go home. We said yes and he let us go. We got home around 10 and visited with Brad's parents and mama and Amy. Brad's parents left after lunch and Brad and I took a nap.

1-22-09 The first night home went good. We brought Finley's bassinet into the living room and Brad stayed on the couch so he could be with her in case she started crying or needed something. I got up a few times to feed her and she slept until 7.

1-23-09 Friday night we put her down at 12 and she woke up at 3:30 to eat and went right back to sleep until 7. It was great!

1-24-09 Saturday night she was not wanting to go to sleep and I only got 3o minutes the whole night. That was a sad night! I finally went to sleep at 9:30 the next morning and was crying because I was so exhausted.

She did really good the first few days. Mama and Amy stayed until Sunday and it was really nice to have them here. They cooked and washed clothes and helped keep things picked up. Even though they let Brad and I get used to everything on our own, it was very comforting to have them close.

We keep a chart of her feedings because it helps us recognize patterns. She is doing really good and is pretty much on a 3-4 hour time span between feedings. Her latest thing is that she has a hard time settling herself at night. She will go to sleep while I am feeding her but as soon as I lay her down she is up again. I hope she grows out of that! :-)

She had her first doctors appt on Monday and she is doing great. Yesterday we took her out for her first outing. We went to Brad's work to show everyone and then went to Target to get her swing. She slept the entire time. It was surprising as much as we had her in and out of the car and everyone holding her.

I cant believe she is already a week old!!